Inhibition of p53-murine double minute 2 interaction by nutlin-3A stabilizes p53 and induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in Hodgkin lymphoma.

p53 is frequently expressed but rarely mutated in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). p53 protein levels are regulated by murine double minute 2 (MDM2) through a well-established autoregulatory feedback loop. In this study, we investigated the effects of nutlin-3A, a recently developed small molecule that antagonizes MDM2 and disrupts the p53-MDM2 interaction, on p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cultured HRS cells. HL cell lines carrying wild-type (wt) or mutated p53 gene were treated with the potent MDM2 inhibitor nutlin-3A or a 150-fold less active enantiomer, nutlin-3B. We show that nutlin-3A, but not nutlin-3B, stabilizes p53 in cultured HRS cells carrying wt p53 gene resulting in p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Cell cycle arrest was associated with up-regulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21. Nutlin-3A-induced apoptotic cell death was accompanied by Bax and Puma up-regulation and caspase-3 cleavage and was abrogated, in part, by inhibition of caspase-9 and caspase-3 activity. By contrast, no effects on cell cycle or apoptosis were found in HL cell lines harboring mutated p53 gene. Furthermore, combined treatment with nutlin-3A and doxorubicin revealed enhanced cytotoxicity in HRS cells with wt p53 gene. Blocking of nuclear export by leptomycin B, or inhibition of proteasome by MG132, stabilized p53 at a level comparable with that of nutlin-3A treatment in HRS cells with wt p53. These data suggest that nutlin-3A stabilized p53 by preventing MDM2-mediated p53 degradation in HRS cells. wt p53 stabilization and activation by nutlin-3A may be a novel therapeutic approach for patients with HL.